Lakeland, fla. >> Justin Verlander has made five consecutive Opening Day starts for the Detroit Tigers, the most since Jack Morris took the ball for 11 straight in the 1980s.

Verlander might continue that streak.

Or he might not.

First-year manager Brad Ausmus has not made that determination quite yet, just days into his first spring camp as the Tigers’ skipper.

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But he has thought about it. And he has plenty of options, making it a tough choice.

“I can’t believe it took this long for someone to ask about the Opening Day starter,” Ausmus said with a smile Wednesday morning.

“Of course it could be tough decision. You really have three legitimate Opening Day starter-type pitchers on the roster. You have a Cy Young-MVP winner, who’s coming off surgery, but as of right now looks to be on track. You have the reigning Cy Young winner, and you have the ERA champ. You could make an argument for any of the three, really.”

It could be the reigning Cy Young winner, Max Scherzer, who started the All-Star Game for the American League last season. It could be the AL ERA king, Anibal Sanchez.

Or, it could be Verlander again, since it appears he’s on schedule to be ready, after core muscle repair surgery in early January.

“Yeah, if Verlander’s healthy, I would imagine at this point — if all three of those guys are healthy at this point, I’d imagine those three, in some form, would pitch those first three games,” said Ausmus, acknowledging that Verlander’s health status is probably the largest variable still in play.

“Well, it plays into it. We don’t know until he’s thrown a few times in game situations, where exactly he’s going to be. That all plays into it.

“To say I haven’t thought about it would be a lie. To say I haven’t discussed it with coaches would be a lie. But we haven’t made a final decision.”

Certainly, Verlander’s encouraging progress through his rehabilitation has reopened the discussion of him being in the mix, when in the immediate aftermath of his surgery it was — maybe wrongly — assumed he wouldn’t be.

He’s already thrown four bullpen sessions, and has another upcoming on Friday. In terms of progression, it looks like he’ll probably make the requisite number of starts in Spring Training — maybe minus one — which would not preclude him from taking the mound when the Tigers open the season on March 31.

With three off days in the first 11 days of the season, there would be the option to give Verlander extra rest.

Once he’s ready to go, though, the Tigers could just put Verlander in his “every-five-days” comfort zone, and let him go.

“I would have to talk to Justin about it. Theoretically, if he was ready, coming off a Spring Training where he was short a start or two, probably just one start if he stayed on track — I certainly would recommend to him that hit might behoove him to take an extra day, (due to) the fact that he missed a start. But, he does take pride in pitching every fifth day. Again, it’s more important that he makes 35 starts. Whether he pitches on an extra day’s rest the first week of the season, I don’t see that being a big issue down the road,” Ausmus said.

“We’ve looked at that. Jonesy and I have discussed, kind of mapped out informally how it could play out, not only in terms of who the Opening Day starter is, but the possibility of at some point, splitting up Smyly and Porcello, so they’re not always back to back. Those off days give us that opportunity.”

Keeping all of the starters healthy will be critically important — just as it was last year, when the Tigers used the fewest starters in the big leagues.

Realistically, who is starting in September is every bit or more important than who is starting March 31.

“I think it’s more important that these guys stay healthy, and have 35 starts apiece, than that. Opening Day is, obviously, a lot of fanfare. Signals the end of winter, beginning of summer — the unofficial beginning,” Ausmus said. “I would much rather have those guys make 35 starts, than be overly concerned about who’s pitching the first game.”

He’s still got six weeks to decide.

Matthew B. Mowery covers the Tigers for Digital First Media. Read his “Out of Left Field” blog at opoutofleftfield.blogspot.com.